“Sarah Matthews has everything in the world a woman could wish for: a loving husband; two beautiful children; a small business which she runs together with her sister-in-law; and even her own top of the range car. Why then does she keep having recurring nightmares?
Over a friendly lunch with her ex-lady boss, seeds of doubt and discontent begin to gnaw at her, and the realization dawns that she is no longer free to live a life of her own as she would wish. When offered the opportunity, therefore, to go to work in Paris for a month she finds herself unable to resist.
As Sarah takes us along with her on her journey, we are given a privileged insight into the workings of the female mind as her thoughts and feelings tumble around in an attempt to find answers."
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The premise of this book sounded so interesting that I couldn't wait to read it. The first couple pages had me slightly concerned as they dealt with a recurring nightmare that Sarah was having. That nightmare was of herself drowning and as someone with hydrophobia, I cringed as I was reading it. Voicing my thought on this on Twitter led to some reassurance from Shannon Hart that it was the only time it was talked about in depth. With that in mind I plugged on and am so glad that I did as this was just one of those books that makes you smile when it ends how you want it to.
Sarah has what seems to be the perfect life with the perfect husband, the perfect children, home, and jobs. But what about those nightmares? That is definitely not the sign of something "perfect". When her old boss offers her a chance to go to Paris for a few weeks on her own, Sarah takes the offer. Husband, Rob, doesn't take the news very well. How do you gracefully handle your wife telling you she is unhappy and needs to take a break from you? Regardless, Sarah jets off to Paris where she gets the time to do some self evaluating. A tragedy at home cuts the trip short and when she returns, she finds things aren't as perfect as they ever appeared.
I really enjoyed this book. I think that Sarah was such a charming character and despite her flaws she was genuine. She made rash decisions that weren't thought out and she made well thought out decisions. She learned a lesson and did it with all the human qualities. I didn't always enjoy her husband, Rob. A lot of times he felt very selfish but he ultimately showed the type of man he was.
The nightmares of drowning really made sense as I read this book. Sarah was "drowning" in a way because she was so unsettled with where she was in her life. As perfect as everything was on the outside, she was no fulfilled on the inside. Her journey to finding her perfection was a compelling read and I greatly enjoyed it. Shannon Hart's debut novel was such a lovely book and I hope that there will be more to come soon from such a talented lady.
You can find out more information about Shannon and her writing, or just to say hello at the following: website, blog, or twitter.
If you leave a comment on Shannon's tour page, you will be entered to win a $10 Amazon gift card.
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